About Wine Guardian

Wine cellar cooling systems, built on innovation.

Wine Guardian is a world-renowned leader in wine cellar cooling. An Air Innovations company, we combine the resources of a global leader in environmental control systems with a passion and expertise in wine preservation to deliver wine cellar cooling units to meet every need, from the largest commercial cellars to small cellars for wine storage at home.

Regardless of the size or type of the wine cellar, Wine Guardian systems have been consistently relied upon to deliver superior performance in temperature and humidity control, ensuring the perfect conditions for your wine collection.

Meet the father and son entrepreneurs who created Wine Guardian

The founders of Air Innovations, father and son Larry and Mike Wetzel, have spent most of their careers designing and manufacturing specialty air conditioning and refrigeration equipment. They are also both passionate about collecting fine wines. It became only a matter of time before they applied their expertise in both subjects to building a better wine cellar cooling system.

The result was Wine Guardian®, a commercial-grade unit sold in North America and Europe, first introduced by the company in 1998.

The Wetzel family’s first wine cellar was hand-dug by Larry and a teenaged Mike under their 1820’s farmhouse foundation, utilizing the natural coolness and humidity from the earth and stone surrounding it. From that date forward, wine cellars became an essential part of their future residences.

The first attempt at providing artificial cooling came about in Larry’s 1989 house renovation and involved using a home air conditioner – still the basic framework for many wine cooling units today. It soon became apparent that the unit couldn’t adequately keep the recommended 55 degrees nor provide the proper humidity. It was also cumbersome and noisy. After studying what was available for purchase, the Wetzels determined they could build a better product, and soon Wine Guardian was born.

Larry has WG-controlled 900-bottle cellar in his Cazenovia, New York home and another 200-bottle cellar in his second home on Nantucket. Mike recently installed a 600-bottle cellar in his home on Skaneateles Lake, one of the wine-producing Finger Lakes in Central New York. He is using a ducted, water-cooled Wine Guardian cooling unit with humidifier. It is installed in an adjacent mechanical room, mounted over the door to conserve space.